双语灵修（葛培理牧师）：12月26日 生命冠冕

12月26日

生命冠冕 

你务要至死忠心，我就赐给你生命的冠冕。

启示录2:10

圣经说了很多有关生命的短暂以及为永生做准备的必要性。我们需要重新认识到，死亡正向我们所有人迅速逼近，圣经中有许多警告，叫我们准备好迎接上帝。富人即便用他们所有的财富也无法买到延缓悬在每个人头上的死亡判决。穷人也无法向“死神”乞求多活一天，死神从摇篮到坟墓追捕着每个人。

圣经说：“你们的生命是什么呢？你们原来是一片云雾，出现少时就不见了。”（雅各书4:14）。即使是玩世不恭和世俗之人，有时也会对生命和永恒进行深入思考。我深信，如果人们更多地思考死亡、永恒和审判，就会有更圣洁的生活和对上帝更清醒的认识。

太多数的基督徒试图推迟对死亡的思考，也不想去思考这样的事实，就是：上帝的孩子们终有一天会站在基督的审判台前，向祂交代他们在世上是如何度过的。

约伯说他的日子“比梭更快”（参伯7:6）。我在北卡罗来纳州参观过纺织厂，观看了为国家生产布料的大型织布机。梭子闪电般地穿梭，肉眼几乎看不到。圣经说这是永恒的年表，即便你能活到七十岁、八十岁或九十岁，但与永恒相比，这只是弹指一挥间。把你的手放在你心上，感受它的跳动。它在说：“快！快！快！”我们最多只有短短几年了，让我们为主而活吧。

今日祷告：

天父，求祢帮助我成为一个好仆人，为祢而活。让我的生命活出祢的荣耀；奉耶稣的名，阿们。

December 26

THE CROWN OF LIFE

Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life. Revelation 2:10

The Bible has much to say about the brevity of life and the necessity of preparing for eternity. We need a new awareness of the fact that death is rapidly approaching for all of us, and that the Bible has many warnings for us to prepare to meet God. The rich with all their wealth cannot buy a reprieve from the death sentence that hangs over every man. The poor cannot beg one extra day of life from the“grim reaper” who pursues every man from the cradle to the grave.

The Scripture says,“What is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away”(James 4:14). Even the cynical and secular at times think deeply about life and eternity. I am convinced that if people gave more thought to death, eternity, and judgment, there would be more holy living and a greater consciousness of God.

Too many Christians try to put off the thought of death and of the fact that all children of God will one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of how they spent their time here on earth.

Job says that his days are“swifter than a weaver’s shuttle.” In North Carolina I have visited the textile mills and have watched the giant looms which turn out cloth for the nation. The shuttles move with the speed of lightning, scarcely visible to the naked eye.The Bible says this is the chronology of eternity. Though you live to be seventy, eighty, or ninety years old, that is but a snap of the finger compared to eternity. Put your hand on your heart and feel it beat.It is saying,“Quick!Quick!Quick!” We have only a few brief years at the most.Let’s live them for the Lord.

Pray for the Day:

Father, help me to be a good servant and live for You.And make my life count for Your glory; in Jesus’Name, Amen.